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Through a randomized controlled trial, this mixed-methods study evaluated changes in elementary science teachers' understandings, confidence, and classroom implementation of problem-based learning (PBL), inquiry, and nature of science (NOS) instruction following participation in a professional development (PD) as well as the components of the PD that teachers perceived facilitated these changes. Results indicated that following the PD, treatment teacher (n = 139) understandings of and confidence for teaching inquiry, NOS, and PBL were significantly greater than control teachers (n = 98) after controlling for preunderstandings and confidence. The effect sizes were large. Treatment teachers also incorporated significantly more PBL, inquiry, and NOS into their instruction. Modeling, microteaching with feedback and reflection, and in-classroom coaching facilitated teachers' confidence, understanding, and intention to implement the reform-based practices they learned. Implications for the understanding of the relationship between knowledge, confidence, and practice as well as elementary science teacher PD design are discussed.

Teaching the connectedness of relationships among elements in the Periodic Table is often an overwhelming task, and can result in shallow student understanding. This article contains a series of activities that evoke student prior knowledge about classification, leads them to discover periodicity and other relationships among the characteristics of elements, and extends their knowledge into other disciplines such as creative writing and art. The activities structure an effective learning environment because the foundation of understanding lies in the nature of science, utilizing process skills, content knowledge, and the history of science in order to teach conceptual understanding on multiple levels. The resultant understanding of the multi-dimensional patterns of the characteristics of the elements gained by engaging with these activities allows students to use the periodic table as a tool for predicting compounds and writing reaction equations. Based on the authors' experiences, 14-to 18-year-old students who have participated in these activities have been able to identify valence electrons effectively and correctly pair elements in ionic bonds. Given the formula, students were also adept in drawing dot diagrams of covalent compounds because they understood the meaning of the position of an element in the periodic table.

With crosscutting concepts such as stability and change in the "Next Generation Science Standards," this article was written for those who have wondered how to teach these concepts in a way that is relevant to students. In this investigation, students ask the question, "Why is the pond dirty?" As students investigate the health of a local pond, they become curious about science--they ask questions and develop an understanding of the complexity of the systems that make up the pond environment and how these systems affect stability and change within the pond. In this investigation, students ask questions, draw a model, plan and carry out investigations, analyze and interpret data, use mathematical thinking, and base explanations on evidence--all of which are science and engineering practices considered essential in the "Next Generation Science Standards".

For many children, summertime is free time. For parents, summer often means searching for structured learning opportunities for their children. For teachers, summer can mean heading back to school for professional development. The elementary science institute for teachers that the authors conduct includes a summer science camp for children. Last summer, while investigating human impact on the environment, students investigated the health of soil by exploring the problem "Is your soil sick?" The students had a great time and learned about ecosystems, soil, and plants, but the purpose was twofold; this elementary science institute was an opportunity for teachers to learn about problem-based learning and try out a new pedagogy with children in a risk-free environment. The teachers learned the value of situating a learning experience for children around a real science problem as they observed the excitement it generated in students. After the institute ended, the teachers had the skills to go back to their classrooms and implement this type of experience. This article describes the soil testing activity and how teachers used the knowledge they acquired teaching during this summer institute to enrich their classrooms. The investigations could be done as part of a summer camp, as a home project, or during the school year. (Contains 2 figures and 4 online resources.)

The activity described in this article poses a question, provides evidence needed to answer the question, and uses a cooperative learning structure within which students analyze the evidence and create their own questions. Students see how a single cause can interact with two natural systems--the water cycle and the bald eagle food chain--to affect the bald eagle population size. (Contains 8 figures and 5 online resources.)

Encouraging students with learning challenges to actively participate in the learning process can be difficult, especially when they are tentative about their knowledge level as compared to their peers. This article outlines three steps teachers can take to incorporate cooperative learning strategies that ensure active participation by all students, including special education students. By implementing these steps and strategies in the classroom, an environment of safety, acceptance, and respect is created, and all students will feel secure in sharing knowledge. (Contains 1 figure.)

New teachers, especially those who are not certified in education, need support to succeed at teaching and remain in the profession. Because there is a growing national shortage of science teachers, many school districts are forced to hire teachers who have science degrees but little training in education or experience teaching. Research shows that without effective support and professional development, 66% of those new teachers will quit the profession within three years. This article describes a research study of new teachers who have provisional licenses which revealed specific supports that are beneficial. The study was conducted by the New Science Teachers' Support Network (NSTSN), a collaborative effort of George Mason University and local school divisions to help uncertified science teachers succeed at teaching and remain in the profession. Using retired science teachers as coaches and taking methods courses as a cohort were two supports that led to improved student test scores. Through their work with uncertified science teachers, the authors found that establishing supportive working conditions, a supportive school culture, in-classroom support, and quality courses in how to teach science makes new science teachers more aware of what they must do to be effective teachers, supports an increase in their instructional competency, and results in statistically significant better student achievement compared to new science teachers who did not receive support.

While learning about the types of weather events that occur in the local area, students in grades 4-6 were asked to consider how structures can be built to withstand extreme weather conditions. Teams of students designed, constructed, and tested buildings to withstand hurricanes and designed the tests they would use to evaluate their structures. The weeklong weather-design challenge was a student-driven investigation with an underpinning of teacher expectations and guidance. In addition to learning about weather, students used problem-solving skills like scientists and engineers. (Contains 2 figures and 8 online resources.)

Children are naturally curious about the world in which they live. To focus this sense of wonder, have your students investigate their local habitat as it changes over the year. This multiseason study will build connections and add relevance to the habitats that children learn about. This series of activities for grades 4-6 explores the changing nature of diverse local plants and the animal life associated with them. (Contains 2 figures and 2 online resources.)

The start of a new school year is a challenging and exciting time for any teacher--and a time when beginning teachers particularly need our support. Working with new science teachers in the New Science Teachers' Support Network (NSTSN) has shown the authors that veteran teachers have the greatest impact on beginning teacher's success. The NSTSN is a federal research study of 59 new science teachers employed full-time across 3 school districts and 35 schools. Based on the study's observation reports and survey responses--from new science teachers enrolled in NSTSN and the experienced teachers assigned to support them--they have arrived at the following suggestions to help experienced science teachers assist new teachers. (Contains 4 figures and 3 online resources.)

Student learning is directly related to classroom control established the first week of school (Wong and Wong 2001)--what you do the first day counts, and what you do the first 10 minutes counts even more. This article shares the advanced planning aspects of classroom management that should be in place before students enter the classroom for the first time: the physical environment; routines, policies, and procedures; materials management; as well as a review process to extend what students learn. (Contains 7 figures and 2 resources.)

Students connect to science in multiple ways. For some students, learning how real people have developed and defended their scientific ideas makes science relevant and interesting. Tracking the changes in scientific thought over time can be fascinating for students as they see how scientists based their growing understanding on empirical data that became more extensive with each new wave of technology. Students also discover that the process of accepting new explanations is often fraught with controversy. In this interdisciplinary activity, students develop a timeline that uses posters to show how scientists' explanations of our solar system and the universe have changed over time. (Contains 4 figures.)

This hands-on, minds-on zoo project provides a fun and safe opportunity for students to experience the world of animals and nature right in their own classroom. Students have the chance to work individually or in small groups to explore, observe, and discover answers to their questions about the natural world. In addition, it provides numerous occasions to integrate science, math, reading, and art. The nearly month-long experience described here was conducted with a group of top-notch first-grade zookeepers! (Contains 1 figure, 5 resources and 2 online resources.)

Students get very excited when confronted with problems that they find meaningful. Problem-based learning lets students solve problems using the strategies and tools that scientists use. While developing solutions via technological design and construction, students experience firsthand the relationship between science and technology. To capture students' interest, Motor Mania was selected as a theme, since the students are only a few years away from being able to drive and are very excited about cars. (Contains 7 figures.)

Analyzing student presentations from three perspectives--expert, peer, and self--provides extended feedback and opportunities to learn. All three of these are helpful and serve different purposes. The expert (teacher) feedback shows how the teacher views student work and often assigns a grade. Peer analysis provides students doing the analysis an opportunity to determine what makes the most difference in clarity of science, interest in examples, or quality of work; while providing students receiving the feedback with different perspectives to consider. Self-assessment encourages critical-thinking analysis and improvement (NRC 1996). In this article, the author discusses how to assess student presentations from the three perspectives, (1) expert analysis; (2) peer analysis; and (3) self-assessment. She also describes how to structure individual or group presentations so that students receive feedback from multiple perspectives. (Contains 3 figures.)

Students get excited about science when they investigate real scientific problems in the classroom, especially when the investigation extends over several weeks. This article describes a health-science problem-based learning (PBL) investigation that a group of teachers and teacher educators devised together for a group of fourth- to sixth-grade students participating in a summer science enrichment program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. As students participated in the problem-based lesson, they learned about diseases and how to live healthy lives while experiencing how scientists work. (Contains 1 figure and 1 resource.)

Ionic bonding is a fundamental topic in high school chemistry, yet it continues to be a concept that students struggle to understand. Even if they understand atomic structure and ion formation, it can be difficult for students to visualize how ions fit together to form compounds. This article describes several engaging activities that help students gain a better understanding of ionic compound formation and how to write ionic formulas. (Contains 6 figures.)

Problem-based learning experiences that extend at least two weeks provide an opportunity for students to investigate a real-world problem while learning science content and skills in an exciting way. In this article, students are challenged by the president of the United States to serve as employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to plan, construct, and test models of cities exposed to a series of simulated hurricane and tornado conditions. As a culminating assessment, students develop and videotape public service announcements covering meteorological concepts. They then plan and construct a prototype model city capable of withstanding any natural disasters in any given area of the United States, which is then exposed to an unknown simulated weather event to determine if they have successfully met the president's challenge. Upon conclusion of the event, the junior weather tamers are ordained "masters of disaster" and presented certificates of honor from the president. (Contains 3 figures.)

This article describes a pumpkin activity that allows teachers to evaluate their students' understanding of standards-based science skills. This activity is a valuable tool for the teacher to assess all the concepts introduced in the beginning of the life science. It assesses the lab skills that have been taught in the first quarter: observation, equipment use, and metric measurement. It exposes students to a practical test of making a slide and finding cells using a microscope, which is a key component to higher-level science classes. It asks students to recall their foundational cell knowledge and apply it to a real lab experience. The lab forces students to assess the resources available and work on what they could at that time, and it also forces students to work together in their group. Lastly, it shows the teacher which concepts need to be reviewed while working on other units as the year progresses. (Contains 3 figures.)

Linear measurement is more than just learning how to use a ruler. In the early grades, measurement activities develop students' understanding of the properties of objects as well as what it means to measure objects. Hands-on activities can enable students to explore such measurable properties as height and length, and direct comparisons of various objects provide opportunities for students to gain a conceptual foundation of measurement before using standardized tools such as rulers and metersticks. In this article, the authors present several activities that develop measurement skills in young learners, particularly in first and second grades. Students complete the activities individually but collaborate with peers as they discuss their experiences and observations together. (Contains 1 resource.)

For eight years, relationships with community partners have been the mainstay of a science enrichment program for secondary students. Through the use of problem-based learning, science classes use, the techniques and tools of scientists to solve authentic problems directly related to students' interests and needs. In this article, the author describes how their collaborations with community partners made their problem-based learning experience more authentic and exciting for students while ensuring that the experience is consistent with the community's needs and interests. Here, they chose Motor Mania as their topic for their problem-based learning experience. Students built model cars in preparation for a Grand Prix Challenge while learning physical science content and skills along with driver/passenger safety. (Contains 6 figures.)

Legends and tall tales have been part of the American culture for ages. Students are probably already familiar with the tales of how Pecos Bill fearlessly tamed a ferocious tornado, or Paul Bunyan effortlessly restrained a great river. Such tales have been passed down from generation to generation to explain humanity, the natural world, and scientific phenomenon. When tradition connects collective wisdom with innovative inspiration, it sparks students' desire to discover. This article presents a five-day lesson that follows the 5-E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) for incorporating constructivism into science teaching developed by Roger Bybee (1996). The lesson incorporates tall tales in the classroom and ventures far from the stagnant teaching traditions of the past. In this lesson students are drawn into the Old West as they become characters in a tall tale that twists science with literature and the arts. They enjoy role-playing the main events of the legend using props created with cardboard, bulletin board paper, and paint. Students are able to engage in an active exploration of how weather phenomena in the world around them works without realizing they are doing work. (Contains 5 figures and lists 7 online resources.)

In this online exploration of sound energy and the human ear, students carry out an inquiry-based activity, which leads them to websites featuring a diagram of a human ear, an interactive demonstration of the Doppler effect, a model of longitudinal waves, and an animation of human hearing. In the activity, students formulate, justify, and evaluate a number of predictions about sound. Sound, which is one form of energy, directly relates to the everyday experiences of students. The investigation, which is intended for two class periods, or approximately 90 minutes of instructional time, is divided into two parts--Sound Waves and Anatomy of the Human Ear. Though these activities can be conducted separately, they build on each other and connect life science and physical science when conducted sequentially. The exercise addresses several National Science Education Standards and develops a number of multiple intelligences, including spatial and logical-mathematical. It fits well in units from two distinct subdisciplines, physical science (waves) and life science (human anatomy). (Contains 1 figure.)

Designing assessments to effectively probe students' understanding of science concepts is a challenge that requires having an overall assessment strategy and well-designed assessment instruments. For assessments to be most effective they need to be continuously woven throughout teaching and learning, and the results need to be used to inform instruction. Using an assessment cycle is one way to achieve this goal. The diagnostic, formative, summative, and confirmatory assessment cycle can be embedded into any unit of study. Diagnostic assessment occurs before the unit of study starts. The purpose of this ungraded assessment is to determine what students already know about the concepts to be covered in the unit. Formative assessment occurs throughout the teaching of the unit, preferably daily in the form of short items, to monitor student progress. It can be graded or not graded. Summative assessment occurs at the end of the unit of study to assess what students have learned about the concepts studied in the unit. Traditionally this was the only assessment that was done, and the class moved on to the next unit of study regardless of how well students had done. Confirmatory assessment occurs some time after a unit has ended to test knowledge retention. It can be a final examination administered at the end of the year that covers the material studied during the year.

This article discusses the rules science teachers need and how to implement these rules in the class. What should my science classroom rules be? Ideally, this question is asked prior to the teacher's entry to the classroom during their teacher training and revisited throughout their coursework preparation and student teaching. A science teacher needs to have rules and routines in the classroom that support a positive and safe learning environment for students throughout all classroom activities. For teaching science, a teacher needs to have two types of rules: ones for general classroom behavior and ones for safe laboratory procedures and behavior. These two work together. Rules and routines for the appropriate use of these materials can be satisfied through general classroom behavior rules that address the need for students to be respectful of each other, and classroom and student property. Rules for safe and appropriate use of science equipment and supplies must be established to protect students from harming themselves or others, safeguard against damage to equipment, support the ethical treatment of living organisms in the classroom, and protect the environment at large. New science teachers need multiple examples of general classroom rules so that they may become familiar with the scope of rules that exist and the ways in which they are stated for increased student understanding and adherence. The authors recommend two other resources for all new science teachers to become familiar with. The NSTA's "Position Statement on Safety and School Science Instruction" (2000) briefly outlines general school laboratory safety considerations and is available online. More specifically, the authors recommend becoming familiar with Chemical Safety for Teachers and Their Supervisors (American Chemical Society 2001), which is also available online and provides critical information for setting up a safe laboratory environment. How can teachers get students to follow the rules? Ideally, this question is considered as new teachers develop their rules for use in the science classroom. This question should be considered prior to the new teachers' entry to the classroom during their teacher training, and revisited throughout their coursework preparation and student teaching. In order for a new science teacher to have a safe and positive learning environment for students, the teacher must establish classroom rules for general classroom behavior and a separate set of rules for safe laboratory procedures and behavior. (Contains 2 notes.)

When a preschool teacher unexpectedly found tadpoles in the school's outdoor baby pool, she recognized an unusual opportunity for her students to study pond life up close. By following the tadpoles' development, students learned about frogs, life cycles, habitats. (Contains 1 resource.)

George Mason University provides online courses for educators. One course encourages teachers to master the Internet as a tool and resource for classroom instruction. This paper describes course configuration and development based on feedback from teachers in Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Germany. Pilot course results indicate that instructor-student interaction keeps students involved, thus creating better learning. (SM)

Describes a program investigating the history and technology of space exploration. Students work in space mission teams and assume the identities of the mission's astronauts. The unit includes a press conference simulation and integrates science, language arts, library skills, and cooperative group activities. (PVD)